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Supporters of Earth Day have called for people around the world to pledge to commit “a billion acts of green” today, April 22, Earth Day 2011.
Small, individual acts are welcome – so mine is to do this blog post, after several weeks of not having time to add to this site. Sure, it’s symbolic, but, in the end, I suspect most of the acts will be.
For example, I see that green lifestyle expert, journalist and TV host Candice Batista, through Twitter @candicebatista, has pledged that she is “buying NOTHING….NADA….zip….give a try too.” Probably just symbolic – I’m sure she either stocked up or will wait until the weekend to buy what she would have bought on Friday.
And that’s the best-case scenario: If she actually decided not to make up for her spend-free day, and millions or billions of people followed her lead, April 22, 2011 would go down in history as one of the worst economic meltdowns in history. It may be green, but it sure isn’t sustainable (People, Planet, Profit).
Businesses all around the world are marking Earth Day by announcing major new initiatives. In fact, the announcements of new sustainability initiatives are so utterly overwhelming that Environmental Leader noted today that “this Earth Week we got far more news suggestions than we could possibly use. So reduce wasted press releases – email us at other times of year!” In other words, many sustainability efforts are going to go under-recognized because they are being announced on Earth Day.
Cheer up if you’re unclear about the impact of your sustainability initiatives. Even Earth Day isn’t sure what to do with sustainability.
Two recent studies – one a professional marketing study and the other a college honors thesis – make a strong case for the value of green marketing.
In the professional study, 33 percent of respondents said green marketing was more effective than their normal marketing efforts, with just 7 percent saying it was less effective, according to a study of 370 marketing executives for Environmental Leader. Other findings include smaller firms tend to spend more, on a proportional basis, on green marketing, and the Internet is by far the most popular green marketing medium. The full study is available for $479.
In the college study, Wittenberg University student Lukas Treu (currently an intern here at Dix & Eaton) found that Chevron’s green marketing (its Untapped Energy commercial) is paying off in building the Company’s trustworthiness, goodwill on the environment and overall credibility. Lukas also found that environmentally involved people are more likely to believe and trust Chevron than those who are not as interested in environmental issues. His psychoanalysis of the results is enlightening: People who care most about the environment have an increased motivation to process the messages. The more they care about a topic, the more attention they pay; the more attention they pay, the more a message can persuade them. This study is available here for free.
Interesting findings all the way around. If you have a story to tell, and you tell it well, the people who matter most will believe and trust you. And probably reward you with their business.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: What the world needs now more than ever are the Three P’s. All three of them.
Unfortunately, the management and communications of People, Planet, Profit are proving much more difficult in these tough times. How can we talk about People when the layoffs are piling up and unemployment is moving toward 10 percent? As for Profit, with many corporate bottom lines plummeting, what could we possibly have to say?
But sustainability and the Three P’s are much more of a long-term value proposition than a short-term measure of success or failure. Initiatives that involve and support communities and employees (even if there are fewer of them), that reduce waste and pollution (even if they’re not perfect), and that save money (even if it doesn’t turn into profit) are still good business and sustainability.
Sure, budgets are tighter than ever, but there are still win-win-wins to be pursued. Of everything I have read and seen, increasing energy efficiency at home, in your community and at work is close to a sure thing in addressing all Three P’s.
A 15 percent reduction in energy use is a great goal – and the People, Planet and Profit all stand to benefit. Good report on the subject from the Environmental Leader, a must-read e-newsletter for business leaders.
